????和許多創(chuàng)業(yè)者一樣，羅賓?蔡斯創(chuàng)業(yè)的點子同樣源于自己的個人生活經(jīng)歷。12年前，現(xiàn)年54歲的蔡斯成立Zipcar公司時，她家正需要第二輛車，但只會偶爾使用。結(jié)果如何？她在波士頓創(chuàng)辦的這家公司成了全球領(lǐng)先的汽車共用網(wǎng)絡(luò)，2011年公司年收入達到2.42億美元。2003年，蔡斯辭去CEO職位，目前正在經(jīng)營Buzzcar公司，幫助車主在法國出租自己的車輛。她拒絕透露這家公司的具體盈利情況。Buzzcar公司的聯(lián)合投資者是一家支持可持續(xù)交通的法國公司Mobivia。下面就是羅賓?蔡斯的創(chuàng)業(yè)傳奇：

????我父親是一名美國外交官，因此，我曾經(jīng)在多個國家居住。我的成長期主要是在斯威士蘭度過，這樣的經(jīng)歷也造就了我的全球視角。我母親是一位極其優(yōu)秀的企業(yè)家。她曾在多個國家創(chuàng)辦各種手工作坊，涉及的產(chǎn)品種類從手絹到服裝設(shè)計，可謂五花八門。

????后來，我去巴黎讀大學。1980年，我從威爾斯利學院（ Wellesley College）畢業(yè)，獲得了文科學位。之后，我前往波士頓衛(wèi)生保健研究及培訓(xùn)機構(gòu)JSI工作，該機構(gòu)接手了多個美國國際開發(fā)署（U.S. Agency for International Development）公共健康領(lǐng)域的大合同。在那里，我見識了沒有任何金融背景的人如何進行項目運營，所以我決定到商學院繼續(xù)深造。

????1986年，從麻省理工大學斯隆管理學院（MIT Sloan School of Management）畢業(yè)，我心懷壯志，但同時卻要撫養(yǎng)孩子。我有三個孩子，分別相差三歲。從商學院畢業(yè)到成立Zipcar期間，我有時會做全職工作，有時會做兼職，或者根本沒有工作時間，一切取決于孩子的年齡，以及我丈夫的工作。我丈夫（羅伊?拉塞爾）是一位語音識別領(lǐng)域的電氣工程師。1999年9月，我與安特耶?丹尼爾森閑聊時，她提到曾經(jīng)在柏林見過汽車共用服務(wù)。安特耶是德國人，她的孩子是我六歲孩子最好的朋友。當時，我待業(yè)在家已經(jīng)有一年時間，正在尋找創(chuàng)業(yè)的機會。

????我和丈夫住在馬薩諸塞州的坎布里奇。我很少開車，所以我不用再買一輛車。其實，我希望能按小時或按天租車，不必非得擁有一輛屬于自己的車。所以，汽車共用的理念深深吸引了我。

????1999年，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的繁榮達到了巔峰。大約50%的人在上班時能夠上網(wǎng)，25%的人擁有手機。那時的創(chuàng)業(yè)群體對無線網(wǎng)絡(luò)簡直就是趨之若鶩。我在與安特耶交談時想到，汽車共用恰好體現(xiàn)了互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的意義——在一大群人中共享某種資源，而Zipcar正是對無線網(wǎng)絡(luò)的有效應(yīng)用。

????Like a lot of Entrepreneurs, Robin Chase got the idea for a business from personal experience. In the case of Zipcar (ZIP), which she launched 12 years ago, Chase, now 54, needed a second car for her family -- but only on occasion. The result? Her Boston startup has become the world's leading car-sharing network, with annual revenue of $242 million in 2011. Chase, who stepped down as CEO in 2003, is now behind Buzzcar, a service that lets car owners rent out their own vehicles in France. While she declines to reveal numbers, her co-investor in Buzzcar is Mobivia, a French company that supports sustainable transportation practices. Her story:

????My father was an American diplomat, so I have lived in different countries. I grew up primarily in Swaziland and have a global view of the world. My mother was incredibly entrepreneurial. She started a number of cottage industries in several countries, ranging from handicrafts to clothing design.

????I started college in Paris, then graduated from Wellesley College with a liberal arts degree in 1980. After that, I went to work for JSI in Boston, which handled large USAID [U.S. Agency for International Development] contracts in public health. I saw how programs were being run by people who had no knowledge of finance, so I decided to go to business school.

????When I graduated from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 1986, I was both ambitious and raising babies. I had three children -- three years apart -- and from the time I finished business school to the time I founded Zipcar, I worked full-time, part-time, or no time, depending on how old the children were, and my husband's job. My husband [Roy Russell] is an electrical engineer who worked with tech teams on speech recognition.

????In September 1999, I was talking with Antje Danielson, whose child was then best friends with my 6-year-old. Antje was German and had seen car sharing in Berlin. I'd just taken a year off from working and was looking to do a startup.

????My husband and I were living in Cambridge, Mass., with one car. There was no way I wanted a second car because I drove so infrequently. Instead, I wanted a car that I could rent by the hour or the day and that I didn't have to own, so the idea of car sharing instantly appealed to me.

????In 1999 it was the peak of the dotcom boom. Fifty percent of the population had Internet access at work, and 25% had cellphones. Wireless was the buzz of the entrepreneurial community. As Antje and I talked, I thought, Car sharing is what the Internet was meant for -- sharing specific resources among large groups of people -- and Zipcar would be a great application for wireless.